Volition
by Psych101
Summary: How the Titans met, and why Robin is no longer working with Batman. No idea who I'm going to pair together yet, but it will probably happen. Rated T for Teen, not for Tasteless. There may be allusions to adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Intro**

I think I'm not going to tell you whose perspective I'm writing from. Some you won't be able to guess because I just made them up, and their characters are not important. Others you'll know right away. Probably because I'll use their name in the writing.

Or not. I guess this depends on how well I portray the characters.

I'm just warning you now- I don't always finish things. It's about 50/50. I'm not saying this because I'm trying to fish for comments and reviews, I'm just saying this so when people get pissed I can point to something and say Told Ya So. In the case that I do finish it, well, forget that I even wrote this paragraph.

There also won't be any specifying of ages. It makes more sense for the reader to fill in this blank, as it affects your perception more than it does mine.

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Welcome to Jump City Robin<strong>

"Babe, lets get out of here. Just you and me. We'll have more fun at my place."

His hair is greasy. No one who needed a shower this badly should have such confidence. She ponders this with a loopy mind. Maybe she shouldn't have been so callous with her friends and the shots. Regardless of her impairment, she knows she doesn't want to go home with the slimeball.

"I think I want to go back inside."

He ignores her. Starts to bite her neck again.

"Look, can we just go back inside and dance?"

Now his lips are moving towards the V in her glittery dress. His hair is brushing against her nose. Ugh gross.

"Stop. I'm done."

His ears must be broken. No no no.

"Hey asshole! I said I'm done!" She pushes him. Jerk. Probably has a tiny penis. Deserved it. She tells him so.

There is impact on her bottom lip again, only this time it's a fist.

* * *

><p>A windowless van faced a red light. The greasy haired driver cursed; why red when no one else was around? He blew the light. When he was a kid this would have thrilled him. He was numb now, and needed a grander rebellion.<p>

Red and blue lights flashed in his mirrors. _Shit_. He was sure no one could hear the woman scream for help from the outside, but she could certainly drown out his _Howdy-do, Officer?_

He would take the long way home. He pressed the pedal to the floor; this evenings date tumbled to the back of the van.

Officer Hart was pissed. He just wanted to go home. Retirement was _days_ away.

Guiltily, he glanced at the red and black business card in his cup holder. He knew it shouldn't even be a consideration, but Wilma was at home with two sick grandchildren. Paperwork was piled high in the home office. It was only a red lighter anyway. He used his cell phone and dialed.

Slimeball grinned as the lights turned off and the black and white slowed. One could always count on lazy cops in Jump City. He relaxed to a comfortable speed of twenty over the limit, and the CrownVic turned left and out of sight. The woman had stopped her screaming and crumbled into a corner. It was going to be a good night.

He winced as a single bright headlight shone in his mirror. Some asshole biker with his brights on. The jerk got closer, and tailgated him close enough to graze his bumper. Obviously he wasn't going fast enough for the punk. Insulted, he sped up.

His prize screamed once again, only this time she was joined by the screech of metal on metal. The van shuddered; Slime cursed again and glanced in the rear view mirror.

What- they looked like _harpoons _piercing both sides of the van. He flicked his eyes back to the road, and then checked his mirrors again. What the Hell?

There was a thud on the roof.

* * *

><p>The van went from seventy to zero in seconds. He was thrown from the roof of the van, but was able to duck and roll. Standing, he felt no injuries and faced the van. He saw the driver see him, mouth agape and slimy hair standing on end. He saw the slimeball take in his red and black suit, the cape with a raised eyebrow, and last the mask. He saw what the driver was thinking long before it happened, and he was ready.<p>

When Slime slammed on the gas, Robin leapt into the air. He pulled his cape over his face and rammed a foot through the advancing windshield.

There was a scream and once again the driver slammed on the brakes. Robin was now sitting shotgun without having to open a single door.

"What the FUCK-"

"Last I checked," Robin said conversationally, pulling the lever and reclining his seat, "running red lights is still illegal after midni-"

He had spotted the backseat occupant. Masked eyes met mascara smeared brown ones. Robin sat up straight and slowly turned to face the dumbstruck driver.

The first punch sent the driver into the door, the metal giving in like putty. His hair left a streak on the window. Robin allowed him a moment to feel the pain. The second sent the driver and the door out onto the street. He had a minute to glimpse the aircraft cable that attached a cherry red motorcycle to the harpoons in his van, and then the slimeball was out.

Robin didn't spare him a second glance. Climbing into the backseat, found the woman was huddled and terrified still.

"It's going to be okay. I promise."

There were flashing red and blue lights down the road. Some shop owner had called the police, Robin guessed. He kicked open the double doors at the back of the van. His R-Cycle flashed its lights, greeting him like a puppy waiting for its master. He turned back and reappeared as the police cars pulled up, carrying the woman effortlessly. She was bruised and distraught, but otherwise had suffered only emotional harm.

To the first officer who confronted him, he presented the weight of the woman. To the second another of the business cards that were slowly becoming known in the city. The two officers shouted to him as he swung a leg over his R-Cycle. He ignored them as the harpoons retracted, and the steel cables reeled them back in. Once they were secure, Robin revved the engine.

Blinking after the retreating red bike, the officer looked down at the card the boy had handed her.

ROBIN

555-3400

Call for help


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

**Chapter 2: Meet Cyborg**

A massive, hulking figure was just under the windowsill. Robin crept towards it silently, but then it started to move away. It slunk around the house, moving like underneath the sweatshirt was a hulking frame of muscle.

Robin watched curiously as the thief sidestepped the small flowerbeds, careful not to disturb them. He righted a toppled tricycle as well. This didn't fit with a dirtbag looting the house of a teenaged mom, so Robin waited and watched.

The figure turned a corner, and then Robin heard two exclamations; one of anger and one of shock. Racing around the house, Robin saw the figure tackle another, smaller one to the ground.

In the moment of Robin's surprise, the two rolled on the ground and broke apart. The larger one advanced, and the smaller pulled a knife. Robin decided now was the time to get involved.

As he dashed forward, the larger of the two suspects shouted, "You leave her alone or you're gonna be a cloud of pink mist!" He charged and swung, but the smaller figure was gone. His fist met empty space and he spun, looking for his enemy and seeing Robin for the first time.

The figure had his hood up, but from underneath glared a set of mismatched eyes. For a moment they both stared, and despite the situation neither could sense that the other was an enemy.

Robin's eyes widened as the pool of shadow behind the hooded man grew to three dimensions. It took the form of the smaller person and, betraying his surprising strength, he knocked the hooded man flying.

Robin charged the shadow man, attacking with furious blows of his staff. The Shadow backed up, blocking each with his forearms but shrinking away. Robin leapt into the air and spun to deliver a debilitating blow, but even as his staff came down on the creature, he disintegrated with a toothy grin. Robin landed unsteadily and searched for the shadow. He caught sight of it slithering rapidly towards the house.

He gave chase, but knew he wouldn't be fast enough. The thing was going to slip under the door and get away.

The shadow was on the rickety porch, inches away from the door, when the porch light went on. The thing screeched as it was bathed in light and was forced to reintegrate. The massive hooded man stood by the light switch; he stepped away and grabbed the shadow man by the collar and easily lifted him off the ground.

"Easy, man," Robin warned. The hooded man ignored him.

"Why do you keep coming back here?" He demanded.

"No reason dude, it's just an easy target house! Ow!"

"You are gonna leave this place alone from now on, right?"

"Excuse me, but WHAT is going on?"

The three on the porch turned to face the open front door. In it's frame stood a small but fierce looking girl in a black and yellow nightgown. Her dark, delicate hands were grasped tightly around a rolling pin. She nodded to Robin.

"I see you actually do exist. Who are these guys?"

"One's your thief," Robin explained. "As for who's holding him…?" He looked at the hooded man expectantly.

From under the hood came a tender, "Karen? It's me. How's the baby?"

The girl's eyes softened. She looked up at the dark face as if she couldn't believe he was standing there. The hooded man shoved the shadow thief into Robin, who cuffed him to the porch well within the circle of light. Then he watched as the hooded man stepped closer to Karen. He touched her face lightly- Robin noticed his hands were gloved.

"I… I thought you were dead," She said dazedly.

"No."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to get rid of this dude. I don't know who this other guy is, but he helped."

"That's Robin," Karen said, still sounding like she was waking up from a dream. "I called him when I thought I saw a shadow outside my window."

"Why didn't you call the police? You didn't know who this guy was!" The hooded man sounded almost angry, but Robin just listened.

"You know the police have given up on this neighborhood," Karen said sourly. "Someone gave me his business card, told me he was for real, and I didn't know who else to call, and it said-"

"-'Call for help.' I've seen it."

She looked at him, lost in thought. "They told me you died in the accident. I should have known better."

She reached up and pushed back the hood. He stiffened and pulled back, but it was too late.

Karen gasped in horror. One side of the face looking down at her was a beautiful human with bitterness in his eye. The other was shiny blue metal surrounding an unfeeling red eye. It glowed softly.

"Who are you?" She shouted, taking a step back into the house. She wielded the rolling pin again, this time at her rescuer.

"Karen, it's still me," The cyborg said softly.

"No! Victor is dead, they told me! Get away!"

Victor didn't move. He watched her retreat into her house. With one last mortified look, she shut the door. He heard the locks turning.

* * *

><p>Robin had been about to leave the two to themselves. Now he stood staring at the half being frozen on the porch.<p>

Victor turned to face the guy who called himself Robin. He'd heard things too- Batman's estranged protégé from Gotham City, come to work as a vigilante here in Jump. He'd fought alongside him briefly, but now Robin was privy to both his darkest secret and the worst moment of his life.

He watched Robin observe him. Either the Boy Wonder wasn't horrified, or had seen one too many disgusting things and was just good at disguising it. He held his gaze steady and spoke.

"This guy won't get away?"

"No. I'll contact the police, tell them to pick him up and keep him in the light."

"Well, thanks for your help," Victor turned away to leave, head bowed.

"Victor?"

He turned. "Call me Cyborg. It's what I am now."

"Cyborg then. I'm sorry. For that." Robin nodded his head towards the locked and bolted front door.

Cyborg looked at the door, and Robin saw the resigned acceptance in his face. It was if he'd known this would happen all along. "Thanks man. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah, maybe."


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related. This chapter is kinda lame, but I couldnt really think of anything else for Beast Boy

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Beastly<strong>

"You're kidding me, right?" Robin cocked an eyebrow. There was no way this man had called him for help with an escaped zoo lioness.

The dude shrugged, and together the two looked at the snarling animal before them.

"I gotta dart," He mumbled. Animal people, Robin noted, don't seem to communicate well with humans.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm a superhero. I have no idea how to tame lions."

"Lioness. That there's the finest female we've got, and we need her for breeding."

Robin reviewed his oath to serve and protect in his head. Nowhere did it exempt zookeepers. He signed and took the dart from the keeper.

He stared down the angry beast, who in return bared her teeth. Her golden eyes defied him to come any closer. Robin started to circle. The zoo had been cleared out and locked down- it was just him and the lion.

"Mr. Robin? Dude?"

_Oh great,_ Robin thought as he turned to the voice. _Some kids had snuck back into the zoo to see the-_

Some green kid.

"Hah HAH! It IS you!" The green kid punched the air, seemingly unconcerned that they were being advanced upon by a lion. "I knew it! This is the coolest thing ever!"

"Um," Robin said, eyeing the lioness coming closer. "Look uh… dude. Can we talk later? We have to get you out of here."

"No way man! I came to help! I was in the bathroom when they evacuated the zoo. I was here visiting a distant relative of mine." The kid grinned, making a joke that no one else understood.

Robin started to back away form the angry animal. "I don't know if you've noticed, but- ARGH!"

Robin scrambled away as a lion, deep green and shaking a long, glorious mane bounded past him. "What the-?"

The lion stood before the lioness, who regarded her green foe with wariness. The lion opened a set of green jaws and roared, causing the zookeeper to cover his ears and book it for the main gate. The green lion charged and the lioness bolted. Right towards Robin.

He readied his staff, his mind telling his body not to run. The lioness pounced with open jaws- into these Robin shoved his staff, and the animal clamped down hard.

The two fell, Robin pinned beneath. His arms shook as the animal gnawed on the staff, getting closer and closer to his face…

With a mighty paw, the green lion swatted her off of Robin. Snapping its teeth it forced the lioness back. She tried to run again, but met only the snarl of the green lion. She backed into the picnic area, and Robin had an idea.

As the green lion kept her at bay, Robin snuck around her flank. He jumped onto a trashcan and quickly summited the roof of the small shade that covered the tables. The lioness was slowly backing towards it. When the animal's back was just underneath, Robin jumped.

The lioness screeched, furious, and tried to throw him off. Robin hung on for dear life, burying his fingers into the soft fur on her neck. She leapt wildly in the air, and then he saw his chance.

The minute he shoved the dart into her shoulder, the lioness had had enough. She twisted and snagged his shoe with her teeth. With a powerful jerk, she sent him flying.

Robin was falling out of control. This was going to hurt-

Something caught his shirt just before he hit the ground and gently set him down. He looked up and saw a green pterodactyl hovering just above him. Robin started when he heard a dull whine- the lioness was staggering towards him, and then fell to the ground in a heap.

Robin bent over and put his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"YEAH! That was SO COOL!"

The green pterodactyl had changed back into a human. Robin eyed him carefully, still not quite able to put his finger on what had happened.

"Dude, what a team! We kicked ASS!"

"Who are you?"

"Beast Boy, former member of the Doom Patrol, at your service Mr. Robin!"

His enthusiasm was amusing. Robin grinned. "I've heard of the Doom Patrol. Thanks for helping me out."

"Robin just thanked me for helping him." Beast Boy said to no one in particular. He was overcome with the awesomeness of the situation.

"I guess we better go get the zookeeper before she wakes up." Robin started off towards the gate. Beast Boy followed him.

"Mr. Robin dude, I was thinking-"

"You can just call me Robin. '

Beast boy gave a little squeak of joy. "Really?"

"Really." Beast Boy's adoration was starting to make Robin uncomfortable.

"Okay Robin, I was wondering if you ever need a sidekick or something, maybe I could help out."

Robin grimaced. "Sorry Beast Boy, I'm not in the market for a partner."

Beast Boys enthusiastic smile dropped. "Oh, yeah, sure. I was just thinking aloud-"

"It's nothing personal," Robin said quickly. "That thing you can do- it's pretty incredible. But I just got done being part of a team and I'm not looking to do it again so soon."

"You mean with Batman? But you guys were unstoppable!"

Robins face turned stony. "Yeah, we were."

Beast Boy sensed that he was in uncharted waters and steered away.

"Well, in case you ever need help, I'm here. We worked really well together, I thought. We could be the Dynamic Duo or something-"

"Pretty sure that ones taken-"

"Or the Super Dudes-"

"That's-"

"Or maybe we could be the-"

"Look," Robin put a firm stop to Beast Boys brainstorm. "I'm not looking to be a team member right now, okay? I work alone."

The green face looked older without the grin. "Of course, I was just thinking, you know."

"I'm sorry."

"It's cool dude. I'll see you around."

Robin turned to see a falcon flap away. There was a bitter taste in his mouth, partly because of the mention of Batman.

But mostly because even though Beast Boy had left, Robin still had the shape shifters disappointment ringing in his ears.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Teamwork<strong>

Cyborg closed his newspaper and then did a double take- there was a photo of a masked boy, holding a hand in front of the camera. Underneath was the headline Masked Vigilante Cleans Up City, Inspires Police Force.

"I know that dude," Cyborg said absently. The newspaper became his pillow that night.

He woke in the same park, but on the ground instead of the bench. He wasn't sore; Cyborg wasn't even sure he could _be_ sore. But he was stiff. When he was still one hundred percent human, he'd go on a run when he was stiff, and this is what he did now, even if he wasn't positive it would help his mechanized joints.

Jump City was quiet, something unusual for the place but not unusual for the hour. Cyborg ran laps around the park, feeling little fatigue as he racked up the repetitive miles, until 8:09. One of the benefits of being half robot- he always knew exactly what time it was.

He knew, for example, that it was 8:11 when a leaf blew in the breeze and got stuck to his face. It was 8:19 when he showed up at Tony's back door and found, God bless that tiny diner owner, half a cherry pie from the night before. At 8:20 Cyborg had checked to make sure no one was watching and taken off his sweatshirt, allowing the metal inside to cool down from his run. At 8:20 and ten seconds, the entire pie had been demolished and at 8:22 a twelve-foot monster, with hands sprouting from almost every square inch of tall, spindly body, took up a semi truck and tossed it into the air.

However, it took Cyborg a solid seventeen seconds to process this.

* * *

><p>"It was a- a- <em>thing<em>!" the delivery boy stammered, at a loss for words to give Robin.

"Look, I don't need to know what it was," Robin said impatiently. "I just need to know where it _went_."

Wordlessly, the pimpled teen pointed down the street. At the nearest intersection, a streetlight was ripped from the ground and tied into a knot. Robin lifted his foot and squeezed the throttle. He shot like a red bullet towards downtown Jump, slowing once he was deeper into the city to search for signs of the creature.

Paused at an intersection, he heard screams and looked wildly left and right for the cause. Terrified faces were all he saw.

Terrified faces looking _up_.

A shadow passed over him, and Robin snapped his head back. His eyes popped as a semi truck sailed over his head. Without a second thought he gunned the engine and ripped a U turn, burning rubber. He raced the flying semi towards a park, where families grabbed their children and scattered.

The massive rectangular shadow shrank as the semi closed in on the ground. Hundreds of people fled from underneath it, but there were two people sprinting towards the impact point- one was Robin, the other was a hysterical woman in a lilac dress. She ran, on legs that hadn't been exercised since high school gym class, like an Olympic marathoner towards her dog, tethered to a post with a pink leash. They reached the yapping white fluff at the same time.

"Get out of here!" Robin yelled as she fumbled with the knot. "I'll get him!"

But then Robin looked up and was able to read the company name of the semis tires. There was no time to do anything, no time to think or even duck.

He heard the horrible crunching sound, but didn't feel a thing save for the giant gulps of air he was still forcing down his throat. Robin opened his eyes.

"What's up Rob?" Cyborg grunted. Robins jaw dropped. The metal man had two hands planted firmly against the base of the semi truck; the metal bent at the contact points, forming deep dents. He was holding all two tons of truck in the air, and had managed to greet Robin almost cheerfully.

"Wanna move these guys so I can… put this sucker down?"

Robin had forgotten about the woman and her dog, the former of the two huddled at Cyborgs feet, sobbing. Robin helped her up and, with a flick of his wrist, broke the tangled leash. Placing the frenzied dog in her arms, Robin took the woman and steered her out from underneath the floating truck.

He turned around to watch as, delicately, Cyborg set down one end. Hand over hand, he walked backwards until he was out from the underside, and then he let the semi crash to the ground.

He emerged from the dust without so much as a scrape. Stunned, Robin joined in with the citizens around him as he applauded.

"That was-"

"Hold on a second man," Cyborg cut him off. He was a little uncomfortable- no one had ever applauded him or, for that matter, looked at him without a trace of horror when his metal body was exposed. Instead of thinking about this, he changed the subject to a more pressing matter.

"We're not done yet. Didn't you wonder how that semi truck got up there?" He pointed.

The creature standing three or four blocks away was surprisingly small compared to what Robin had been expecting. He looked to be a mere three feet taller than Cyborg, and was covered in what appeared to be-

"Are those… _arms_?"

"Yeah man. With a set of hands for each. I lost count somewhere between twenty and flying semi." Cyborg watched grimly as the thing grabbed a parking meter and used it to take out the windows of an adjacent building.

"It kinda reminds me of a giant bug."

Robin raised his eyebrow and turned around. He knew that voice.

"What?" Beast Boy said. "What else is big, ugly, and has way too many limbs? A Cockroach! Duh."

"I don't care how many arms it has," Robin snarled. "All I know is that it's about to get exterminated."

"Uh Robin, why's this kid green?"

"That's a fascinating question, actually-" Beast Boy started.

"Look, we can do this over pizza later, okay?" Robin said. "Right now I need Beast Boy to distract that thing while Cyborg and I come at it from the rooftops.

"Whoa man," Cyborg said, holding up two silvery hands. "I never said I wanted anything more to do with this guy."

"Um HELLO? That thing nearly knocked me out of the air with a _semi truck_!" Beast Boy shouted, waving his arms for emphasis. "And _double_ hello? Robin wants us to fight a monster like a crime fighting team of superheros!"

"Uh," Robin said, uncomfortably aware of the commitment he might have just made. "I mean, I could really use your help."

"Alright fine," Cyborg gave in. "But lets get a move on before he finds another truck. And you guys are buying the pizza."

"Deal."

Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg turned to face the creature waving a hot dog cart in the air. Both Cyborg and Beast Boy seemed to wait for Robins signal.

"Um… GO!" It was inelegant and awkward, but at his word Cyborg and Beast Boy burst into a sprint. Robin followed, and shot a grappling hook onto the nearest roof. His feet left the ground and landed, still running at top speed, on the top of the building. With a great leap Robin cleared the distance between two shops. He never slowed down for a second.

Cyborg split off from Beast Boy as well, who continued to run full speed towards the angry creature. Aiming, he fired a gleaming fist at the nearest building, a long coil of cable trailing from his wrist. Once he'd firmly gripped a pipe on the roof he retracted the cable, shooting into the air. He too leapt across the gaps between buildings, keeping pace with Robin.

On the ground, Beast Boy scrambled up onto an abandoned car and jumped off- when he touched the ground again, it shook with the weight of a massive green mammoth. He lumbered down the street.

This certainly got the creatures attention. All arms paused in their destructive activities and shot forwards.

The mammoth stumbled, tangled in a web of arms that ended up in knots as the green giant vanished. Instead, a moth flitted delicately through the fingers of forty pairs of hands.

A hand came out of nowhere, swinging wide to swat the bug. In the blink of an eye, a battering ram collided with the hand, making a noise like two boulders smashing together. Beast Boy seemed to be winning the struggle, or at least he was before two more hands grabbed a hold of his horns and hoisted him into the air.

But it didn't matter, because at that exact moment, a red and black blur came hurtling from the nearest roof. Robin landed on the creatures back and began delivering a furious beating with his staff. Arms dropped Beast Boy and came at Robin from all directions, but each blow was parried with expert speed.

Beast Boy transformed into a lion once again and attacked from the ground. It looked like the Hands creature was going to go down.

But at the last second, it bucked, throwing Robin from its shoulders. He landed hard on his back, forcing the air from his lungs. An arm screamed towards him, hand balled into a fist.

"BOOYAH!" Cyborg landed just behind Robin and let his sonic cannon rip- a jet of blue sonic waves burst from his transfigured arm and blasted the offending arm clean off of the body.

The creature stepped back, shocked. Robin and Beast Boy, once again human, stared at Cyborg.

"Dude. That is SO wicked!" Beast Boy said reverently, and for the second time Cyborg was made to look at himself as something other than repulsive.

"Uh, we've got a problem." Robin said nervously.

The three heros looked up at their opponent. It was shuddering, and then from the space where the arm had broken off sprung three new ones, writhing like snakes.

"We need a new plan-" Robin started to say.

"Look out!" Cyborg shouted, but it was too late. Beast Boy yelled as an arm picked him up by his leg and pulled him off the ground.

"We can't cut off any more arms!" Robin shouted, before a hand came down at them. Robin ducked and rolled, while Cyborg did the same in the opposite direction. The two dodged and weaved, and above their heads Beast Boy flew in wild circles by his ankle.

"Well then-" Cyborg wrenched a hand off of himself and avoided a swinging arm. "What's the new big plan?"

"I'm working on it!" Robin choked, struggling to free himself from the anaconda grip of a particularly thick arm.

For a second both boys were free. "Behind you!" They shouted at the same time.

They ran towards each other, outstretched hands following close behind. Robin swerved to the left of Cyborg, forcing him to leap over the perusing arm.

Simultaneously, Robin and Cyborg zagged, changing directions. Robin jumped, Cyborg ducked.

Breathless, they stopped to see why they were no longer being chased.

The two arms were tied in a knot, both flailing but unable to untie the other. Robin grinned.

"Hey Cyborg, I've got another plan."

"Way ahead of you man." Cyborg matched Robins grin.

Beast Boy was going to be sick, and then suddenly the arm stopped moving. He looked down its length to see two other arms wrapped around it like stripes on a candy cane, restricting its movement. It dropped him to try to detangle. Beast Boy changed into a hawk and soared around the maze of arms, looking for his allies.

He spotted Robin, running at a wall at top speed with an arm in hot pursuit. Reaching it, he jumped and ran along its vertical height, pushing off when gravity kicked in and falling into a graceful backflip. The arm followed his arc, making a loop through which Cyborg soared, also with a hand close behind him. The arms stopped in midair and fought to free themselves. Putting two and two together, Beast Boy dipped lower and touched down, now a brilliant green gazelle.

The three danced.

Robin squeezed himself out from the center of a four-armed knot. He hit the ground running, but nothing came after him.

Turning, he, Cyborg, and Beast Boy found that their foe was completely tangled in it's own arms. Hands stuck out in odd directions, wiggling fingers and trying to come undone. The creature stood on two shaking arms, the hands flat on the pavement like two crushed spiders.

"Uh,' Beast Boy said, looking uncertain. "You're going to need more than one pair of handcuffs."

Robin laughed as several police cars arrived, spectacularly late, at the scene. "He's not going anywhere. Pizza anyone?"

"Yeah, just let me run back and grab my sweatshirt, okay? Gotta cover up some of this metal." Cyborg made to leave.

"Um, why? It's totally awesome dude." Cyborg turned to see Beast Boy genuinely puzzled as to why he wanted to hide his silver armor.

He was starting to like this green kid.

* * *

><p>"-Hence; I'm green." Beast Boy concluded.<p>

"It makes sense," Robin said, surprised.

"Yeah, I get the greenness now." Cyborg said. "But don't ever expect me to understand why you're a vegetarian."

"And I'll never get why you think it would be okay for me to eat meat when I've _been_ most of those animals."

"Give it a rest," Robin pleaded. They'd been having this conversation since they ordered two pizzas- one with everything and one with tofu and pineapple.

"So how are you liking Jump, Robin?" Beast Boy changed the subject hastily, because Cyborg looked like he was ready to burst with the retort he had behind his teeth.

"It's cleaner than Gotham. Fewer psychos, more monsters. Even trade off, I'd say."

"Do you ever stop being Superhero, man?" Cyborg asked, tossing back another slice of pizza.

"I'm here having pizza, aren't I?" Robin asked, with a hint of a smirk.

"Yeah, after we kicked some monster butt." Beast Boy pointed out. "Which was totally AWESOME, by the way."

"Not gonna lie," Cyborg said, leaning back in his chair. "That felt good."

"You guys were great. I really appreciate the help." Robin said honestly.

Beast Boy, having been on this topic before with Robin, approached gingerly.

"We were a good team."

Robin blanched out of sheer habit. But he'd been expecting the subject and knew his answer.

"You're right. And I'd be wiling to keep working as a team, if you guys are up for it."

Beast Boy looked like Christmas came early and often. Cyborg kept his face even.

"TOTALLY! Dude this is going to be so awesome! You're coming too, right Cyborg?"

Robin waited. This morning he'd woken up working alone to keep streets that weren't even his own safe. Now he was building a team, the last thing he'd planned on doing, in a city he'd adopted like a lost puppy.

The metal man shrugged.

"Man, I've got nothing else to do."

Robin surprised himself by grinning. Beast Boy continued full speed:

"I have the best idea for a name…."

* * *

><p>"I think we need a headquarters," Robin said as he wiped pink goo out of his hair. "Our communication is weak, and it's affecting our performance."<p>

"No kidding, we almost got out butts kicked." Cyborg griped, trying to get the slime out of his mechanical eye.

"Not to mention pink is so not your color," Beast Boy quipped, earning him a fantastic glare.

"I can start poking around, looking for an abandoned building or something we can take over."

"You don't have to do that," Cyborg said. "I've got a place."

Robin and Beast Boy exchanged glances. The guy who slept on park benches has a place to set up a superhero headquarters?

Cyborg seemed to read their minds.

"I don't use it. My parents gave it to me to keep me from coming home again. Don't give me that look," he added, seeing the pity on his friends' faces. "I would have left anyway. I just didn't want their charity."

They were quiet for a second. Pink goo dripped from the public bathroom sinks.

"Is it big enough?" Robin said. "For the three of us?"

Cyborg laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I think we'll fit just fine.

* * *

><p>"WHOA!"<p>

"Yeah." Robin said, eyebrows skyrocketing. "I think we'll fit."

Before them was an island, and perched on its crest was a skyscraper.

"What are we waiting for?" Beast Boy shouted. "You didn't tell me your parents were loaded!"

He took off down the slope and dove into the water. Cyborg watched the green dolphin slip in and out of the waves, headed for the gift he never wanted.

"They won a lot of money," He said to the sunset. "Off the doctor who did this to me. He tried to tell everyone how he'd saved my life when no one else could, but all they could see was the computer pieces that held their son together. They made their money and used it to make me disappear."

"Cyborg, we don't have to use this place."

"No. What I'm doing now, it's good. Solid. You know when I first got this place I was gonna set it on fire? Now it has a purpose."

Robin nodded, his respect for Cyborg increasing tenfold.

"Let's get in there then. I'm starving." Cyborg said, ending the conversation. It was the last time he would ever speak about his past; as far as he was concerned, life version 2.0 started the day he defeated the monster Hands, the day when he shed his disguise and wore his shining armor with pride.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

This chapter is super boring. Good thing it's short. I'll get to the girls shortly.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: The Mayor Himself<strong>

Beast Boy had fallen asleep on the couch. Tubs of ice cream, dirty clothes, and DVD cases were strewn about him; in fact, they carpeted the entire living room. It was, after all, the home of three guys.

It was only seven in the evening, but the boys had been out late stopping an armed bank robbery the night before. Beast Boy had just fallen deeper into REM stage when an alarm went off.

He bolted upright, the siren sounding and a red light making his tired eyes smart. Someone had tripped Cyborgs brand new security system.

Robin and Cyborg joined him in the entryway. On a tiny screen near the door, the image of a squat little man blipped in and out.

"Doesn't look very dangerous to me," Cyborg mumbled, having being disturbed from a much-needed recharge as well. "Let's see what he wants."

"Hello hello!" The little man cheered, obviously in the highest of moods. The heros blinked at him in the dying light.

"Lindsey Markeet, mayor and benefactor of this marvelous little city! Nice to meet you boys. I know who _you_ are, of course. May I come in?"

Markeet was settled on their couch, drinking their coffee, and keeping them awake. The smile on Robins face might as well have been painted on.

"-Heard about your work at Jump Municipal Bank last night, truly remarkable, your talents, truly."

"Sir," Robin said, as Beast Boy nodded off and jerked back awake. "Forgive us, but it was a late night for us, as you said, and we're a little exhausted. What can we help you with?"

"Of course, of course, I understand. Well boys," The mayor puffed himself up like a canary. "I've come here to offer you a commission. Money," He clarified for their sleep deprived minds.

"In the six months you've been working together in our city you've scared straight many criminals, and locked monsters and dangerous men away. Our police force has shaped up via your example, and it's given many of us hope for a clean, safe Jump City.

"Now, our policy mandates that vigilantes are against the law. Obviously the last thing anyone would dream of doing is shutting you down, but should you come under our financial wing, your team would be legally legitimate and you would be able to continue exactly what you're doing, only now with the strength and resources of Jump City officials behind you."

"Whadaya say, my boys?"

The heros were still processing his speech. Slowly it dawned on them what the mayor was offering. Robin looked at his team members, who both nodded to him.

"Alright, Mr. Markeet. It sounds like we've got a deal."

"Excellent, I'll have-"

"But let's make one thing clear," Robin forced his tired voice to sound immobile. This fat little mn needed to know he wasn't dealing with just ny trio of teenagers.

"We will not work for you," He said firmly. "But we will work _with_ you."

The mayor nodded. "Of course, Titans. I'll let you sleep now." He got up to leave.

"Titans?" Beast Boy asked, puzzled.

"It's what people are calling you three," The mayor of Jump called over his shoulder. He was gone.

The three titans stood there, looking at the door. With a yawn, Beast Boy settled in to the couch and began to fall asleep again.

Cyborg looked sideways at Robin.

"Isn't Lindsey a girls name?"


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: A Feminine Touch<strong>

"Duude, this lightning is wicked!" Beast Boy exclaimed from the main room. "It's almost as good as TV!"

Cyborg and Robin were in the kitchen, sadly regarding the refrigerator. Take out cartons were stored upside down and oozing all over what looked like a fuzzy blue pancake. There was something in a bowl with chopsticks that looked like a mud pie.

"Looks like we're ordering pizza," Robin said, decisively slamming the door. "And I say we hold this fridge out a window and shake until its empty."

"No problem," Cyborg said. To Robin's surprise, he hoisted the fridge off the ground and carried it away.

"I was kidding," Robin said, "But… okay."

"Aw man, that means we have to go grocery shopping," Beast Boy said it as if the sentence had instead been _Aw man, that means we have to go snorkeling with piranhas._

"In this weather? All I feel like doing is inhabiting the couch for a few hours." Cyborg said, setting the fridge down like it was made out of cardboard. Robin stared for a second- his metal friends strength was often still astounding to him.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were soon immersed in a video game. Robin watched the lighting for a while, letting his mind drift. It had been quiet for the past few days.

"I… just beat you." Beast Boys voice was reverent.

"Yeah, don't get used to it Grass Stain."

"I just…. _beat_ you!"

"Like I said-"

"AAAAAAHAHAHA!" Beast Boy wasn't listening any more. He was rapidly transforming, doing a multi-species victory dance around the living room.

"I beat Cyborg! I beeeeat CYBORG! I BEAT Cyborg! I beat-"

"Beast Boy, shh!"

"Yeah man," Cyborg said bitterly. "Shut up."

"I beat Cy-"

"Beast Boy!"

Beast Boy was instantly silent. Robin looked tense, the way he did when he sensed something was afoot.

"What is it Rob?" Cyborg asked, serious again.

"I don't know," Robin said. "But I think I just saw… green lightning."

"Um, dude, _I'm_ the green one."

The three boys watched the rain rage against the bay window. The video game continued to play its theme song in the background, but nothing happened.

"Huh," Cyborg was uninterested.

"Maybe you're going nuts dude."

"Yeah," Robin said slowly. He sat on a kitchen stool and continued to watch the lightning. The other two settled back into the couch.

With a blast not unlike an M80, the entire tower shuddered. Green light flooded through the window, blinding the three heros.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Cyborg bellowed, covering his ears as alarms cleaved the air.

"Come on, it must have hit somewhere around the third floor."

The Titans raced down the staircase, not daring to use the elevator. Robin threw open the door.

"AUGH!" Beast Boy squeaked, and all three Titans were forced to duck as green and red fireballs rebounded around the work out room. A gaping hole was blown in the wall, and the two balls of furious light appeared to be raging as hard as the storm outside.

And before Robin could say anything, the two lights sped out the hole as violently as they had entered.

"They're headed for the city," Cyborg confirmed, rushing to look out after them. "I can't believe those things blew a _hole_ in my tower!"

"Come on," Robin said. 'We have to stop them from destroying the city!"

Beast Boy was gone in a flash of lighting, and in his place stood a Pterodactyl. He took flight, and Cyborg and Robin each grabbed a scaly leg.

Beast Boy followed the lights at a safe distance- they lurched across the sky at a breakneck speed.

"Beast Boy, down!" Robin shouted. He dropped, ready for action, into the middle of a crowded square. Onlookers only stared for a second- more intriguing, of course, were the two balls of energy screaming towards the ground.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were behind him. He whipped rainwater from his forehead before it leaked behind his mask. The lights were sixty feet from impact… forty… twenty…

"Now!"

Robin hurled a bomb into the heart of the angry battle. It exploded, sending both red and green lights flying in opposite directions. Beast Boy, now a Rhinoceros, pinned the green light to the ground.

Cyborg raced towards the red, sonic cannon out and piping with energy. A massive red monster, looking like a cross between a goblin and a gorilla, rose from the crater where it had landed.

"Don't move, pal!" Cyborg shouted. Too late. The thing let out a roar like a freight train and came at him. With a yell, Cyborg let loose a blast of energy. It burned a hole directly through the creature's chest.

It halted, grasping for the wound as if it could pinch itself back together. And then it collapsed in a puddle of rain and red sludge.

Underneath Beast Boys massive weight, the green light was fading. In the center of its receding glow, a tall, lithe girl became visible. Her eyes, Robin noted warily, were glowing a toxic green.

"Okay, I kinda want to know why these two were fighting," Cyborg came over, cannon recharging as they faced the other combatant.

"What's going on," Robin asked the girl as she struggled. "What was that thing?"

"Laft'g ofkabar jarknaf!" She shouted angrily.

Cyborg and Robin looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Uh, WHAT YOU NAME?"

"I doubt it matters how loud you are," Robin said, as the girl shouted more gibberish back at Cyborg. "I don't think she's from around here."

"Um, I know a little Spanish…"

"Dork'fm comblomb!" She was frustrated, that much was clear, but her words sounded like a poorly executed French horn solo.

"Look," Robin tried desperately, "I can't understand you, do you know any English at all?"

The girl had had enough. With a burst of green power, she sent Beast Boy flying. The other Titans tensed, but when she stood she didn't attack. Instead, she grabbed the nearest person from the crowd- a tall, spindly looking teenager, and kissed him firmly on the lips.

The Titans stared. When she was finished, she relinquished her hold on the front of the boys' sweatshirt and turned to face them again.

"I thank you for your assistance," She said. "I am a Tamaranian… um, I believe here you call it bounty hunting. I have been hunting Gofkorp for three of Earths rotations around the sun. The planet of Tamaran will be eternally in your debt- he is a terrible criminal, guilty of many things."

"Can you please point me to the nearest launch station?"

"The _nearest_ what?"

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, I think the only people that will be able to help you work at NASA, and they live in California."<p>

"I do not understand. Is California another planet?"

"Uh," Cyborg said, never having had to explain statehood to an alien before. "For our purposes, it might as well be."

"I cannot make the journey by flying. I will need to recover from my mission before I can build the required amount of strength. Perhaps you know of a bed I could use to hibernate?"

Cyborg looked at Robin.

"We have a couch…" Robin started slowly. "I guess you could use that for now."

"What is The Couch?"

"Cheaper than a hotel."

* * *

><p>"Dude."<p>

"I know."

"… Dude."

There was a girl on the couch.

A _girl_.

"What do we do?" Beast Boy asked in a whisper.

"You should start by getting your underwear out of the kitchen sink." Robin advised.

"Man, that should be a rule with or without a girl in the house."

"You're one to talk," Beast Boy retorted as Robin smothered a snicker. "You had all your mechanical junk all over the main room when we got here."

"Guys," Robin said warily as Starfire shifted in her sleep. "I have a feeling she could seriously injure us if we woke her up, so how about we-"

Everyone jumped as the alarm went off. Starfire shot straight up into the air and, with a jet of green energy, blasted the alarm until it was silent.

"I am sorry," She said, looking worriedly into the stunned faces of her hosts. "I did not mean to harm your noisemaking toy."

"That's not a toy, Starfire," Robin explained. "That is… was a high tech alarm system. It tells us when something's not right in the city. It's our job to go and stop it- that's what Superheros do on Earth. Titans, lets move out!"

"You can fix that, right?" He muttered to Cyborg, nodding up at the smoldering black mass in the ceiling that used to be their alarm.

"Maybe? I'm not too familiar with alien firearms."

"Robin?"

Robin turned around. "Don't worry about it, okay? It'll take Cyborg about five minutes to fix it." He smiled reassuringly.

"It's not that. I was wondering if I could accompany you on The Superheroing? I am very powerful and could be of use."

The Titans looked at each other. Cyborg shrugged.

"I don't see why not," Robin grinned. "Lets go."

* * *

><p>Broken glass was lying littered in the streets- a sure fire sign of mayhem. Robin surveyed the scene, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire behind him. The mayor had explained hurriedly that someone had stolen a priceless artifact from Jump City Museum. Robin saw no sign of anyone; it was deadly silent.<p>

Except for an eerie, high-pitched giggle.

"Show yourself!" Robin demanded. The voice seemed to find this more amusing.

"Uh dude," Beast Boy said from behind. "Check it."

Beast Boy was pointing up.

At first it appeared to Robin that someone had strung a crimson streamer between two street lamps. But then he noticed the pink stiletto boots dangling from the end that curled down around the nearest lamp. And the head of white blonde hair blowing in the breeze- grinning at them from _the other street lamp_.

"Hey fellas," The girl unwound her impossibly long legs from the lamp- they descended like spiders legs twelve feet to the ground. He body stretched like rubber as the rest of her followed her legs, shrinking from over ten feet to a still tall six; six feet of skin tight red suit. Three titanic jaws nearly touched the ground.

"I'm Elasta-Girl," She held up a long finger, from which dangled a spectacular silver necklace. "Looking for something?"

"Titans…" Robin knew he was supposed to say something, but Elasta-Girl had cocked her hip and tossed her long hair.

"Well boys," Elasta-Girl didn't seem to take notice of Starfire in the background. "Wanna play?"

"Is it time to do The Superheroing yet?" Starfire whispered, unsure why her friends hadn't commenced battle yet.

"Right," Robin snapped out of it with no small amount of difficulty. "Titans, GO!"

The Titans charged.

Elasta-Girl threw her head back and let her tinkling laugh float from her lips. As Cyborg stopped and took aim, she nimbly folded backwards, falling into a handspring. Heels over head she retreated, and then standing under a traffic stop, she stretched. Her body narrowed as her hands reached upwards. In the blink of an eye she was sitting on top of the stop, a boot perched just above the red light.

The titans raced to catch up. Stretching down to the ground, Elasta-Girl walked on her hands until her back was bent nearly in half. When she gabbed hold of a Buick parked on the side of the street, the Titans paused, wary. With a terrible groan, the Buick left the ground as her body whipped back. The car hit the Titans like a bowling ball, sending four surprised pins flying into the air.

Starfire was knocked through the window of an adjacent building. Beast Boy ended up in Cyborgs lap; tangled in the branches of a tree.

"You are so funny," Elasta-Girl squealed, laughing as Robin toppled out of the dumpster he'd landed in. "I can tell you right now, gentlemen, what your problem is."

She dropped to the ground as the Cyborg and Beast Boy fell out of the tree next to Robin. All three froze as Elasta-Girls hand found the zipper at her throat.

"You're all so…"

Their eyes followed as it lost an inch in altitude. Very. Slowly.

"_Male_."

Giggling again, she was airborne with snap like a rubber band. Several summersaults later, she was wrapped tightly around a flag pole.

"You may have the brute strength," She unwound and swung to the windowsill above her, "But I have a woman's grace, the finesse, the agility- AUGH!"

With a blast of green light, Elasta-Girl was thrown from her perch at the top of the building. Starfire followed her decent, flying in a beautiful arc. Elasta-Girl crashed in a heap; Starfire landed delicately on her toes.

"I am not a male." She said, eyes glowing. "And I don't like the way you tease my Earth friends."

She hurled a pair of starbolts at Elasta-Girl, who squeaked and bent her torso into a C to avoid them. With a terrified look at the alien careening towards her, she ran.

Twisting and contorting to avoid blasts of green, Elasta-Girl was considerably slower. She turned a corner and found herself face to face with Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy.

"You can't keep me for long," She snarled as Starfire landed behind her, hands still glowing green. "How long do you think it will take me to break out of a jail cell?"

"I guess we'll just send Starfire after you then," Robin said conversationally, grinning as Elasta-Girls eyes widened. "Seems like she's woman enough for the job."

Starfire smiled proudly as Cyborg produced handcuffs designed to freeze superpowers. When Elasta-Girl was packed safely into the back of a police car, and the necklace fished out of the debris, Robin turned to Starfire.

"You were fantastic," He said. "We really appreciate your help."

"I was glad to assist!" Starfire gushed. "That was most exhilarating!"

"Anyone else wondering where she keeps her wallet?" Beast Boy said. The other three turned to look at him- he was staring after the police car carrying Elasta-Girl to her cement palace. Cyborg smacked him on the back of the head.

"Pull yourself together man."

"And quit drooling," Robin added, chuckling. "There's a lady present."

* * *

><p>"Sorry," Robin said, catching sight of big green eyes watching him over the back of the couch. "I just came in to get a snack, I didn't mean to wake you from your hibernating."<p>

"It's alright Friend Robin, I was not asleep. I have been wanting to ask you a question."

"Shoot," Robin said, curious.

"I did not expect the joy that the Superheroing would bring me. My people, our powers are fueled by emotions, and defeating an enemy has always made me stronger."

Starfire demonstrated by lifting the couch above her head with a single hand.

"I have discovered that fighting with a team for the betterment of a society gives me great power."

"That's great, Starfire." Robin said, smiling. "Believe me, I know all about the effects of having a purpose."

"And I was wondering if… well, perhaps, if it would be alright, I could stay a little while longer?"


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Raven<strong>

Robin resisted a shiver. He stood on the roof of an old building. With the new addition to the team, the place was suddenly awfully crowded. Starfire had brought little with her, but her personality was large enough for the main room to be a little claustrophobic, at least for someone who had come to Jump City only a year ago to be alone.

He told himself he was just restless, but he knew that this was a lie. He came to an unfriendly part of town because he was hoping for something to happen, some kind of trouble. He wanted to ignore the letter sitting under his mattress, postmarked from Gotham City. He wanted to find something to sink his fist into and not think, but _act_. To think was to let all those tumultuous thoughts he'd triumphed over so recently slink back to him, and Robin wasn't going to go back to that if he didn't have to.

A chilling laugh sounded in the distance. Looks like he was going to get what he wanted.

"Little girl," Shadow snarled. "I believe you've got something I want."

She had no idea why he wanted her book, but she clutched it close anyway and said quietly,

"Get out of my way."

She thought for a moment.

"Please."

The Shadow threw his head back laughed, drawing on the surrounding shadows. They slithered over to him and joined his pulsating grey mass, and he grew. He was three times the height of the cloaked girl when he rumbled, "I'll just have to make you give it to me then."

The girl rolled her eyes. "I even said please. " Her hands glowed with a strange black energy.

* * *

><p>Robin was running along rooftops, flying and swinging across the gaps towards the sound of the deep voice. He came to an abrupt halt when a massive, shadowy head rose above the nearest building.<p>

"I know you…" Robin murmured, struggling to remember.

"Meet Shadow," The thing boomed, speaking to something, Robin guessed, down on the ground. "You will give it to me, or I'll destroy you with your own mind."

Robin crept closer to the parapet; the creature had yet to see him. He couldn't for the life of him think of when he'd met a giant shadow…

But he could remember a smaller one.

"Looks like you managed to find a way out of jail," Robin said loudly. He jumped up onto the parapet and faced the being. It turned its great head, the gaping emptiness in the center of it forming a grin.

"Hello Boy Wonder."

As The Shadow bore down on him, Robin caught sight of the small face looking up at them. The girl was backed into a dead end, cornered by the monster.

Robin acted in the blink of an eye. His feet left the roof not seconds before a giant shadowy arm crashed down on the place where he had stood. In midair, Robin fired a grappling hook at the next roof over. He swung lower, debris from the roof crashing down beside him, and at the low point of the swing he was level with the girl's shocked face. He caught a glimpse of wide violet eyes before he smashed into her.

With an _oof _she was swept off her feet. As Shadow turned, confused, Robin retracted the hook. He and the girl shot upwards into the air and ended up on the opposite rooftop.

"You'll be a safe here," Robin told her, setting her down. "Wait for me to come get you." She opened her mouth to protest, but Robin was already vaulting over the roof.

He landed lightly on the ground before Shadow.

"This doesn't concern you," He thundered. "I won't harm the girl if I get the book."

"What book," Robin snarled, buying time while he thought of his next move.

"The book she holds in her hands. It contains a spell that will render me impervious to light." Shadow leered up at the roof where Robin had deposited the girl.

"Sorry, can't help you with that." Robin sprung, staff at the ready.

"Look out!"

He heard the small voice shout, and glanced upwards. Gasping, he saw blackness spilling from the creature's mouth, roaring like a freight train as it hurtled towards him.

There wasn't time to dodge. Robin squeezed his eyes shut braced himself for the impact.

He opened his eyes- the blackness felt like cold water, but had no weight. He watched in wonder as it fell around him like a gossamer curtain.

"Is that the worst you can do?" Robin shouted. And then it hit him. Cold was everywhere, and fury rose up as he saw a familiar face. Suddenly there was no air in his lungs. Desperately he fought the terrible feeling that his mind was turning inside out, and his eyes scraped his surroundings wildly, looking for an escape.

He saw the girl in blue float like an angel down from the roof, standing on a disk of black matter. He tried to warn her, but it became clear that she didn't need it. Her lips moved, and her eyes turned a bright, blinding white underneath her hood. A dark energy, blacker than the one that had engulfed him, lifted a car off the ground. At her command, it crashed in front of the shadow creature and burst into flames.

Shadow was bathed in light and it screamed. It shrank to half its size, until it was eye to eye with the girl. She said something to it and then released the energy she held in her hands. It whooshed over the fire, causing it to flare. Shadow screamed once more and was gone, lost in the flickering light from the flames.

Robin fought the cold, wanting to be free of the hate that gripped his body and soul. A pair of blue shoes stopped before him, followed by a set of white knees beside him. Things started to fade and the hatred from ages ago filled his mind once again.

* * *

><p>Raven gritted her teeth when the creature screamed. It was her height now, and she looked it straight in the eye.<p>

"I told you to get out of my way."

With a swipe of her arm, the dark matter fanned the fire. Flames leapt towards Shadow, and he was no more.

She turned to find The Boy Wonder, leader of the newly formed Titans, on the ground. She hurried over and knelt beside him. He was shaking.

"Where are you hurt?" She asked him firmly. He seemed beyond hearing her. Raven recognized the look in his unseeing eye- his battle was not physical. Robins mind was wounded.

She couldn't think of anything else to do. Raven crossed her legs next to him and began to chant. Once in her meditative state, she slowly reached out and touched his mind with her own.

_Robin could barely breathe. There was a busload of people screaming for him to help, but he was loosing. _

"_Batman!" He choked out. Even though he knew where he was. Even though he knew he wouldn't be coming. These people were going to die. Maybe even himself._

_He was scared. Raw fear was what fueled his arms now, kept his fingers closed around the steel cable. The bus was slowly pulling him closer to the very edge it dangled off of. Robin refused to move, but even as he did so the ground gave beneath him. He wasn't going to be strong enough._

Raven gasped aloud as she saw the faces of the bus passengers, pressed against the glass, disappear into dark water. She felt the iciness of the water itself engulf her. She wanted to pull out of Robins mind, wanted to stop the memory of drowning so that she could breathe again. Why didn't he let go of the cable?

But then things changed.

_Robin was staring at the bloody lines drawn on his palms where the cable had been torn from his grasp. He didn't feel them, nor did he feel the cold wind on his wet clothes as he trudged out of the water. He didn't feel anything._

This was worse. Total emptiness.

_Robin?_

_They're all dead, Batman._

_Robin…_

_You let them die._

_You don't understand. The Joker. He-_

_He made you choose. He made you choose between them and her. I see which one you picked._

_I never wanted this to happen. But I had to choose._

_You made the wrong choice. You're not a superhero, you're just like everybody else. Putting yourself first._

_It's not that simple Robin! Use your head!_

_I am._

_You can't possibly understand. How could you? You're too young!_

_Goodbye Bruce._

Raven had had enough.

* * *

><p>Robin was drowning all over again, only this time in his own memories.<p>

"Azarath."

They replayed over and over again; this was Hell, he had gone to Hell.

"Metrion."

He was never going to be happy again, just cold. Full of hate and regret, and deep underneath it all a vein of burning guilt…

"Zinthos."

With a feeling like being squeezed through a small tube, Robin felt himself lifted from the tumult of emotions. His mind rose, and as it did the feelings became less intense. He remembered the therapy of his friends, and the people he'd saved since. He remembered Beast Boys jokes and Starfires habit of drinking mustard with a straw. He remembered Cyborg lifting the fridge and shaking its contents out the window. At last, when the anger had settled back to a tiny white noise in the back of his mind, he opened his eyes.

"That," panted the girl in blue, "was unpleasant."

* * *

><p>She too had fallen to the ground under the weight of his memories. Robin rolled onto his back and breathed the sweet air.<p>

After a moment of the both of them breathing heavily, he spoke.

"Did you see all of that?"

"Yes."

"What are you?"

"You don't wanna know."

When Robin didn't say anything, she added, "My name's Raven."

She sat up and stood, one hip cocked to the side, allowing Robin a glimpse of an ivory leg through the slit in her cloak. She offered him a helping hand. He took it.

"That thing was a Shadow Demon. He has the ability to drown you with your worst memory. Make you think that things will never be all right again. Make you loose hope that you can ever recover from them."

"Then why did I see him running around stealing TVs like a common thief?"

"The demon inhabits a human for a while, feeding on dark thoughts. That person is blessed with his powers, only up until the point where he consumes them."

"And how do you know all this?"

Raven picked up the book lying at her feet. "I read a lot."

The two were silent again.

"Can I walk you home?" Robin offered. He didn't want her to leave him alone, not yet.

"Sure, I guess. But it would be easier if I just fly you home. You don't look so good."

Robin remembered vaguely the image of her floating down from the roof.

"Um." He said, unsure.

"Scared?" A hint of a smile haunted her features, shifting them from aloof and mysterious to an equally intimidating mix of coy and mischievous.

He smiled, and it felt like the first time in a million years that he had done so, even if it had been only yesterday. It filled him, like a helium balloon, with energy and confidence.

"Try me."


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Meet the team<strong>

Robin watched buildings disappear under the black circle he was standing on. Raven had said nothing the entire trip except to ask for directions, and Robin decided he was sick of the silence.

"So now you know everything about me. And I know nothing about you. That's not fair."

"You're right. It's not," She replied.

He waited.

"Too bad," She said with a small smile.

The wind swept her cloak back, treating Robin to more than a fleeting glimpse of the shapes inside. She caught him looking, and narrowed her eyes to cover for the glimmer of amusement that shined in them. Robin gave a half smile and looked out again over the city traveling beneath him. Slowly, his mind moved to more serious matters.

"No one knows. I haven't told anyone, and I don't plan on it." Somehow he knew she would know right away what he was talking about.

"Who am I going to tell, Robin?"

"Well when we get to the Tower, I'm going to invite you to join my team. You might tell one of them."

"Robin, I-"

"I haven't asked you yet," Robin cut her off, "So you can't say no yet."

Raven let it go for now. In a few moments, she was the one to break the silence.

"He's wrong you know." It was _important_ for him to know this.

"Who?"

"The Shadow Demon. He told you you could never recover from those things. That you'll always be haunted." It was important, only she didn't know why. Perhaps it was just her civic duty to comfort the city's number one crime fighter.

"He's wrong. You can recover."

Robin surprised her by nodding. "I know."

"I just wanted you to be sure. I felt the way you gave in a little. To the hate."

"And I felt the way you pulled me back. If someone I just met can have hope for me, then I guess I can too."

He thought for a moment, "And that was an entire year ago. I've had time to get over it. Not time to forgive… just to move on" This surprised himself more than anything else. From his travels to building his vigilante services in Jump and, finally, to forming the Titans, there hadn't been time for the nightmares. Or the anger.

"I'm sorry that I saw all that," Raven said, quietly. There was honest guilt in her voice. "I didn't know how else to get you out."

"It's okay." Robin sighed, looking ancient for a moment. "It might actually help."

"It was awful." She said quieter still. He looked at her when he heard her voice shake. There was something else too- he _felt_ the repressed emotions rolling off of her.

"How much of that did you feel?" He was getting the sense that she didn't just observe his memories.

"Everything you did."

"I'm sorry Raven. I wouldn't wish that on anybody." Robin remembered how it had seemed, during those first few months, that each and every pair of hands on that bus were suffocating him. "Do you need to stop?"

"I'm an expert," She said softly, "At controlling my emotions. I'll be okay."

They lapsed into silence for a third time, Raven struggling with the sheer force of sorrow and Robin with the fact that for the very first time, someone else knew exactly what he had felt. He hadn't thought it was possible. They spent the remainder of the ride wrapped up in their own minds.

"Well," Raven said with a raised eyebrow. "I would ask if that's your place, but it's a little bit obvious."

Robin looked up sharply, and for the first time felt pleased at the thought of this place as his home. It felt good to know there were people inside waiting for him.

Raven landed at the base of the tower. It was in the process of gaining two more wings, one on either side of the skyscraper. When it was finished, each Titan would have a room of their own, and the tower would be in the shape of a T.

"Come on. You have to at least come in and say hi."

"No I don't. I'm not a people person, Robin."

"You were enough of a people person when you decided to save me. You're powerful and your first instinct was to help. That, my friend, the definition of a superhero."

Raven was surprised. Friend? She said nothing. It was getting harder to resist when he kept flashing that crooked smile at her.

"Just come in for little bit. It would mean the world Starfire to talk to a girl."

"Fine."


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related. This will also be a boring foundation chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Time Lapse Chapter, Because I Don't Want to Write Out All Three Years That I'm Going to Cover.<strong>

"And as they say, the rest was history." Beast Boy grinned at the class. "The Titan Tower was completed a few months later, and Raven and Starfire had actual rooms to sleep in. It was hard at first," Beast Boy said thoughtfully. "We had to remember to put the seat down for the first time in Titan history. It was a big change."

The third graders giggled, and Beast Boy quickly changed the subject. He had found that talking about the bathroom was almost always a hit, but teachers never seemed to like it much.

"And um," Beast Boy struggled to find a conclusionary sentence for his talk.

"Well, what can I say? The mayor funded the installment of a city-wide alert system. We've perfected the art of five person battle. We're best friends, and have been for three years. Robin brought us all together, and is an okay leader most of the time. Except for when he lets Starfire order the pizza."

"Um, The End."

The next part was Beast Boys favorite; he loved the children's shrieks of joy as he flew out the window. It was no longer uncommon in Jump city to see a green hawk soar over the city.

Beast Boy was right. The Titans had never been stronger. No single vigilante could accomplish what they could as a team. The city was looking brighter than ever, the mayor growing fatter by the day, and crime was at an all time low.

The team dynamics formed naturally; Raven was perpetually annoyed by Beast Boy, Robin was perpetually restoring peace. Cyborg and Beast Boy became partners in crime, and Starfire became the source of comic and ever-cheerful relief.

By day they did battle and played Stankball in the rain. By night, they did battle and watched old Star Trek reruns. Your regular teenage superheroes.

After the fight against Hands, Cyborg never again donned his heavy sweat suit. Some say it was because his silver and blue metal made him look more the part of a superhero, but Robin, Starfire, and Raven knew it was because of the way Beast Boy had reacted to his armor after the very first time they fought together. Cyborg saw in his massive brown eyes the possibility that his disfiguration could actually be a source of awe, respect, and pride instead of disgust, hate, and shame. Cyborg was never discomfited again, and in return he occasionally let Beast Boy beat him in Alien Invaders.

Starfire learned enough of the ways of the Earth to pass as human. Despite her formal English and her horrifying taste for mustard as a drink, and although she never learned to be embarrassed about singing in the shower, she quickly became fluent in human habit, even remembering to brush her hair daily. She gained a fierce protectiveness for her friends and was always watching for one of them to be in trouble: more often than not it was a green starbolt that freed another Titan from a sticky situation.

Robin became a master at instantly developing tactical plans for exactly five people. He was able to assess the situation in half a second and in half a second more have a plan of action. Sometimes he would communicate it to the other Titans, but they were at a point in their friendships when, once he'd decided, they simply just knew what to do.

Together they survived the apocalypse, and Raven defeated her demon father. With him died the intense control her emotions had over her powers, and Raven, for the first time, finally allowed emotions to seep into her psyche. With the consequences reduced, she carefully applied her feelings to increase the magnitude of her powers, though she always kept them harnessed close enough to reel them back quickly. There was so much for her to feel, and Raven noticed that a significant amount of it went in a particular direction.

Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy noticed as well. They knew that the things their fearless leader and quiet friend had shared were deep. Raven had felt his darkest pain for herself, and Robin had journeyed down into the unknown to rescue her from her father's prison. The two never talked about either event much, to anyone, but they were both there and they both carried them like the massive slabs of steel Cyborg used to train with. The other Titans knew that sometimes they helped each other with the weight.

But instead of creating tension, their connection only seemed to make their teamwork flawless. For his part, Robin developed an unnecessary protectiveness for his dark friend, as unnecessary as his attempt to rescue her the first time they had met. Perhaps he had been frightened by the first time he saw her express fear, or maybe it was loyalty for giving him the power to survive the end of the world. It was as though he couldn't allow her to be hurt any more than she already had been. In turn, Raven took to sitting up with him when he worked through the night, researching one villain or the other. It seemed small enough of a gesture, but Ravens constant, sans sarcasm presence was a gift rarely given lightly. It seemed they could share a look and know what Robin had cooked up for the latest opponent. Another look and Raven could tell him his plan was a load of overcomplicated crap without a single word.

The titans were at the top of the world, and it looked like they were going to be there for a long time.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own anything DC Comics or Warner Bros related.

I never know whether or not to capitalize the "Titans."

**Chapter 10: I Dunno, You Think of a Title and Let Me Know**

"Catching a cold is your idea of relaxing?" Raven raised an eyebrow. Robin watched her as she stepped gingerly out the window and onto the roof, discreetly noticing when her leg breeched the slit of her robe.

"Oh come on, it's nice out here."

"Maybe if you're a freak from icy Gotham City," Raven snarked as she sat down next to him. "They're playing Super Space Invasion. Starfire's kicking ass." Robin offered her his cape for warmth, an offering small enough for Raven to accept it. It was amazing how easily his ever so slightly elevated concern for her well-being could piss her off.

"It's Super Heliogalactic Invasion Tactic."

"Oh, so do the pros call it S.H.I.T.?"

"Ha ha."

"Whatever it's called, it's extremely loud."

"I'll give you that," Robin sighed. "Sometimes it's a little obnoxious in there."

"Only when Cyborg is throwing soda cans at Beast Boy."

The two lapsed into a much needed peace. The sky was clear, and they could see the few stars that weren't out shinned by the lights of Jump. For a moment, both upheld the façade that everything was relaxed; Robin could sense that she had something to say. He wished it could just be a pleasant night outside with a beautiful girl, but Raven never beat around the bush- her silence meant that she didn't want to talk about the weather.

"I checked the mail today," Raven said quietly. "This came for you."

Robin took the letter, postmarked from Gotham, with out expression. "Thanks."

"You're not going to open it?"

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't know anyone from Gotham."

Raven bit her bottom lip, knowing that broaching this subject was very much akin to inviting her parents for a family reunion.

But she did anyway. If anyone had the right to, it was she.

"What if it's from him?"

"Oh it is. He's been sending them for years."

"And you've been ignoring them."

Robin looked young for a second, like a child afraid they'd chosen the wrong answer on a test. Then his face hardened again. "I don't care to know what he has to say."

"You say that," Raven reclined back onto the roof, "But I doubt you mean it."

He looked down at her. "There are some things you just don't forgive."

"Do you still think he made the wrong choice?"

"Yes," Robin's answer was firm, without hesitation. "When you're a superhero, you are supposed to put the majority of others before yourself. Batman was selfish. It shouldn't matter how close you are to one person."

His words rang in the brisk air. It was the kind of answer that someone performed, as if they had rehearsed it for years and years, in the hopes that if the words made sense, so would the things they described. Raven watched as he massaged his hands, knowing under the gloves were a pair of matching scars.

"I know what I would choose." Robin heard the dancing-on-eggshells edge in her voice. It was the closest tone she had to scared- what she was saying frightened her. But when she spoke again, it was with quiet conviction.

"I would do it in a heartbeat. Does that make me not a hero?"

Robin had watched her face her father, knowing she would be killed, with courage in her heart and faith that her friends would survive. He'd seen her defeat the massive demon, regaining power by sheer force of will, all because he'd threatened the world she'd come to value to the core. She'd been ever loyal to their mission, never once questioning it's worth. Robin often thought Raven was a greater hero than he.

Robin whole-heartedly believed both her heroism and the words she was saying now. He now struggled with the fact that while his argument against Batman suddenly sounded weak to his own ears, his anger was just as potent as ever.

Raven had an answer ready. It seemed like she always did.

"You're not mad at Bruce. " It wasn't a question- this was a theory Raven had worked with for some time, since the moment her mind had found clues in the corners of his.

"You don't believe that you would have done anything different."

"Every time I think about him I want to destroy something."

"That isn't anger," Raven said quietly. "_You_ were the one who went over the edge with that bus, and _you_ were the one who lost the cable. You assumed Bruce's consequences as your own responsibilities. You do that all the time, Robin, it's like you assume responsibility for the whole damn world."

She sighed and looked benignly at him. Reeling at her words, Robin found a lifeline in her eyes, this person who knew him so well.

"What you're feeling is guilt, Robin. Not hate. Batman is just a convenient target. It doesn't matter that he never wanted this to happen to you."

Robin looked like he was trying to iron his hands flat. He finally flung one glove off, sending it skidding across the roof. He traced the scar with his thumb, following the map of gnarled skin that he'd memorized after many nights of doing the exact same thing.

"You think you've gotten past all this. But you have _got_ to understand that not everything is your fault."

Smaller, delicate fingers joined his own. Raven traced the scar in the opposite direction, skimming over the ridge with a feather touch. She knew he often saw the faces pressed against the glass. She saw them herself. She took his whole hand in her own, and though Robins was much larger, it felt to him that he could get lost in her grip.

"Am I right?"

She was more than right. With more words than she'd spoken in the past few days, Raven had nailed him, hammered him into the ground like a railroad spike. They both knew it. Robin felt like he'd been subjected to a live autopsy; he was lying on the roof, split wide open by the scalpel of a woman next to him.

"You don't have to say anything," Raven knew what she had voiced had been in the back of Robins mind all along. But it had been particularly painful dragging the truth out into the open, and she felt guilty. As long as it took for him to process, she would sit right there next to him.

Finally, Robin spoke. He was looking down at their hands, and Raven panicked.

"You have a lot of-" _Nerve? _ "-Compassion." Robin finished. "No matter what anyone tells you, Raven."

"And you have a lot of strength," She said, looking straight into where she imagined his eyes would be. "Not many people could have come back from where you've been. You have the strength to hope."

"Everyone's got their problems," Robin said evenly. "And my job helps get rid of some of them. It's very cathartic."

"It's admirable."

"I learned from you."

"Well I learned from _you_." Raven had raised her voice, annoyed. "I am _trying_ to compliment you, Boy Wonder."

By now their faces were inches apart.

Suddenly, Raven wanted to run like the demons of hell were after her, (again,) but at the same time she wanted to know what would happen if she held still and didn't move. Robin didn't know what he wanted, but going with the flow seemed to be the philosophy at the moment. The energy that buzzed between them was a mixture of their mental connection and something more potent, wilder. He reached out and touched her cheekbone, his bare fingers gentle, enhancing the richness of the air in between them. He wondered what would happen if he came closer.

"Do you smell that?"

Fate had different plans. Raven turned her head and sniffed, feeling his fingers slide from her face.

"Smells like…"

"Smoke."

Instantly there was a different tension in the air. Robin slowly crossed over to the window and opened it. The smell grew stronger. They shared a worried look and climbed back inside.

In his room, Robin's communicator was beeping frantically. Starting to panic, he broke into a jog, Raven on his heels.

It turned into a sprint.

"Beast Boy!" Robin was shocked to hear Raven cry out, reaching an unprecedented volume for herself. He could barely see her drop to her knees, much less the green form on the ground; black billows of smoke were thick in the hallway.

Raven placed her hands on Beast Boys chest. They glowed in her black energy, until Beast Boy's breathing became smoother.

"Smoke," She diagnosed. "Smoke in his lungs. Robin, we have to get him out of-" She stopped and began to cough.

Robin was fighting the choking feeling in his own throat. "I have to see if the others are still in there. Get him outside, I'll meet you in ten!"

"And if you don't?"

"Just go," Robin shouted as she lapsed into another coughing fit. Before she could speak again he dashed off, cape over his mouth and nose. He prayed she'd do as he said.

As he got closer to the main room, Robin had to feel his way down the hall. He found a doorknob; with a yell he let go of the piping hot metal, never having had the chance to put his glove back on. Taking a step back, he blindly aimed a steel-toed boot at the door.

As always, his aim was true. The door burst inwards, and Robin was met with not only more smoke, but flames.

"Star!" Robin called, "CYBORG! Are you in here?"

"ROBIN DUCK!"

Without a second thought Robin flung himself to the ground, and sure enough, he felt something large sail over his head.

The Titans couch landed just behind him with a crunch, blocking the door Robin had just busted through. He rolled away and sprung to his feet.

Across the haze he saw green starbolts connecting with something. Something big.

"Starfire, what's going on?"

He heard a yelp and saw the green light tumble to the ground. From across the room he heard Cyborg shout something incoherent and saw a blast of blue sonic power.

"We're going to play a game," A voice said. Robins head snapped up- why were the enemies always speaking as if they were from on high?

"Don't be a coward!" Robin shouted, feeling a wheeze in his chest. "Come and face me!"

He turned in a slow circle, trying to triangulate the sound of the cackle that responded. More green and blue light flashed behind him.

"Boo."

Robin nearly jumped out of his skin; a face flashed close to his and then vanished into the smoke. He felt the cold, icy feeling of hate start to haunt him again.

Robin had never met the Joker before. Always he had been the whip of a purple coattail disappearing around the corner or a devilish note left in red lipstick. But there was absolutely no mistaking that grin.

"JOKER!" Robin bellowed. "GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"

"How can I fight like a man," Robin received a blow to the back of the head and pitched forwards, "If my opponent is only a boy? It hardly seems fair."

Robin flung his arm out in the direction of the hit, but met only air. A red glove caught his wrist and jerked; Robin hit the ground. A pair of multicolored, floppy shoes stepped back into the smoke.

Snarling, he stood and whipped out his bow staff. He swung it as hard as he could in a sweeping arc and was rewarded when it hit something. He heard the Joker retreat.

Robin stood, anticipating his next move. He felt a tickle at his back and swung, but connected with smoke alone. Slowly he turned in a circle…

One of his own bombs, robbed from his belt, exploded in front of his face. Robin was thrown backwards and he landed hard, knocking out what little air was left in his lungs. He sputtered and stood, only in time for the red fist to connect solidly with his jaw.

He was on the ground again, dazed, and had no idea where the Joker was.

Suddenly, the smoke in the air changed. It became darker and darker until it was black as night. It glowed eerily, and then in one swift movement it was whisked aside.

Robin could see! Raven stood on top of the couch wreckage, her hands glowing black and eyes a vehement white. With her right hand she made a circling motion, and then clenched her fist. The smoke caught in her dark matter whirled around and condensed into a single black ball.

She fired the condensed smoke past Robins ear; he turned to follow its path.

The ball collided with none other than the Hand monster they'd encountered years before. He seemed to have gained several arms and hands. Star and Cyborg were circling it, keeping it at bay but unable to hamper its efforts to destroy the tower.

But the Joker was not to be outdone. The main room was two floors tall, and hanging from the open-air hallway along its perimeter was the warped clown, squirting some kind of liquid from a flower on his lapel.

It became clear, once he dropped a match on it, that the liquid was not water.

Cackling over the ensuing flames, the Joker swung up on to the railing of the hallway and ran along it. Robin pulled out his grappling hook, but another shriek from Starfire made him pause. She crash landed, thrown by Hands, and didn't move. Cyborg was outnumbered two hundred to one by hands, and was preoccupied with blasting the hand that wrapped around Starfires throat. This left the other hands free to attack Raven as she tried to extinguish the explosive fires.

Frustrated, Robin forced himself to ignore the Jokers presence for a moment and dashed over to help.

"You!"

Robin was in the midst of wrestling several arms at once when he heard Ravens voice carry across the room. She had finally spotted the Joker.

A wall shivered, and then a pipe glowing with dark matter burst through it, showering them all and crippling the remaining fires. And then Raven got scary.

Things hummed with black energy as she ascended towards the raised hallway. Tendrils writhed from the base of her disc and her hair whipped in all directions. When she spoke, hovering above the Joker with a terrible look on her face, Robin half expected to hear her fathers voice from somewhere deep inside her.

"Get. Out. Of. My. House." The last time the Titans had seen Raven so angry, the world had been ending.

Appropriately, the Joker was blasted through the adjacent wall.

"My dear," His voice carried from the hole, "I don't believe we've met."

Raven glided through the wall. Robin made to follow her; he knew she would underestimate the Jokers power to hit a nerve. He could feel her anger bubbling in the back of his own throat, threatening her control. Or was that his own?

But before he could take one step, an arm dropped in front of him. Hands would have to go first.

Raven glared at the man dressed in ridiculous garb on the ground.

"Who dressed you, your mother?"

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves-"

"I know who you are," Raven snapped. She flicked her wrist and a chunk of the floor launched the Joker into the air. "You hurt a close friend of mine, and you're going to regret it."

She sent a chunk of plaster hurtling towards him the moment he landed. She was surprised at the agility with which he dodged it, but wasn't concerned.

"You must be Robins girlfriend?" The Joker asked, doing a little curtsy. This earned him a faceful of black matter.

He was still laughing when he rolled over. "I'm sorry dear, but I believe this is between me and your boy toy."

"Not anymore," Raven hissed as she advanced. "I would quit laughing if I were you."  
>"I'm sorry love, if happiness irritates you," The Joker giggled some more, making Ravens blood boil. "But really, Demon Girl, you should learn to mind your own-"<p>

"I TOO FELT THE PAIN YOU CAUSED!"

Her anger surpassed her control- anger as much for herself as for Robin. Images she had seen inside his head flashed through her own mind and made her want to claw up the walls. She felt the fury tingle in every nerve on her body, and then it began to consume her.

Where Raven was standing, there was now a blinding white light.

Starfire was still down and out for the count. Cyborg and Robin were making little progress with Hands when suddenly from the hole in the wall came a brilliant light. Robin knew what it was; he had felt Raven go blind with anger, and knew he only had seconds. He grabbed Starfire and dragged her behind a counter, signaling to Cyborg. He took cover under the computer system, and the Titans shut their eyes tight.

A roaring filled their ears, broken only by a feral scream from Hands. Light was seeping through Robin's eyelids, making them glow a fantastic blue even as he squeezed them more tightly. Finally, the light faded.

It was silent. Cautiously, Robin peered over the countertop, searching for Hands. It wasn't pretty.

The beast had lost fifty percent of its arms, leaving an entire side of empty sockets. The beast was still standing, quivering in agony. As Robin stared at the moaning creature, he saw something fall from the catwalk.

The Joker landed in a heap near his pet. Raven hovered above him, breathing hard and looking exhausted.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Star will be," Cyborg said, crouching next to her.

"And so will Beast Boy," Raven said, landing and sounding a million years old. "I left him outside."

"Raven, that was incredible."

Raven shook her head. "I shouldn't have gone so far." She steadied herself on the counter. Robin came closer, looking concerned.

"I'll be okay in a minute," She said dismissively.

"I don't believe we have a minute, darling."

The Titans whipped around. The Joker was standing. And grinning. Behind him, Hands was shuddering.

From the armless void burst forth an impossible amount of arms. They screamed towards the Titans like a tidal wave. Robin felt someone slam into him, and then he was blind, being pushed along in a current of hands and arms everywhere. Ravens hand found his, and he clung to it like a lifeline.

There were fingers in his mouth, ripping at his hair, twisting his arm. He couldn't even hear the Joker shrieking with laughter anymore.

And then just when Robin thought he couldn't bare any more, it stopped. He lay buried under arms whose sheer multitude was restricting even their own movement. He couldn't see any of his team. He gently shook the hand he had managed to hang on to and got no response.

"Raven," Robin choked out. There was an incredible weight on his chest- it hurt to breath, much less squeeze out enough air to form her name. He knew she was close, but again got nothing but the silence around him. He had no idea where any of the others were.

The weight above him shifted, and for a dreadful second Robin was sure Hands was moving again, but the majority of the monster remained still, unable to move the massive amounts of limbs it suddenly had to contend with.

And then Robin could breathe again; he gratefully sucked in air as the arm on top of him slowly flexed and was lifted. He was certain it was Beast Boy; he opened his mouth to thank his rescuer.

"I'm so glad I found you," The Joker said merrily, struggling to hold up the thick arm. "I've changed my mind, I just got the most wonderful idea for a new game: it starts like this!"

With those words, the Joker let the arm fall on Robin again; all the air he'd managed to pilfer from the Mecca above was forced out again. His chest screamed.

The edges of his vision started to ebb away into blackness. He lost more and more of his focus on the task at hand- _someone_ was above him, and he knew he had to get them, but he couldn't remember who or for what reason.

A small hand was wrenched out of his own, but he was sure that wasn't a problem. There were hundreds more around him, and he could take his pick when he woke up…


	11. not really

**Chapter Not Really **

**I actually do own the ideas in this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Hey.<p>

I don't know where to go from here. I had an idea, but it got so completely ridiculous that it wasn't worth articulating anymore.

Ideas? I may or may not use them, maybe only parts of them, but I need some inspiration here.

Also… thinking about changing the rating to T. Nothing exciting is happening. It's just the way it turned out.


	12. Chapter 11

I own nothing DC Comics or Warner bros related.

I changed the rating. Nothing exciting is happening. I know I have the power to change that fact, but that would require effort and time. Maybe in the epilogue.

Ignore what I wrote in Chapter not really. I'll figure it out.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Wake<strong>

Something was tickling the back of Cyborgs neck; it was one of the few places on his body that still had human flesh and skin. He opened his eyes and discovered that it was grass- he was lying on the slope of Titan Island, staring up at a tangerine sky.

He heard a small groan next to him and lifted his head. Starfire was next to him on the ground, massaging her head.

"Cyborg, are you all right?"

"Yeah Star."

"Thank God you guys are okay," Beast Boy was standing over Starfire with a melted bag of water that had, at one point, been ice.

"What the HELL happened in there?" He asked, "It took me _ages_ to get you guys out from all those freaking arms." His voice was raspy from his initial smoke intake, but at the moment he was the only Titan standing.

"Hands exploded, that's what. Raven didn't know the rule about not blowing his arms off, and she pulled this light trick that would have been wicked cool except for- what?" Beast Boy suddenly looked miserable.

"What is it?" Starfire asked.

Beast Boy continued to look like the world had ended. Starfire immediately thought of her other friends and snapped her head up. She searched the landscape wildly and was relieved to find Robin not far off, on the ground but sitting up.

Raven was nowhere to be seen.

"Beast Boy…"

"I tried." He said angrily. "I shouldn't have let the Joker get past me, but I was trying to see if Raven was okay and I got distracted, and then that thing jumped out of the window and nearly crushed me…" He waved in the general direction of the Tower- the main room window, once a sweeping full wall bay where Raven liked to read, was now glassless.

"I was so dizzy," Beast Boy was becoming more upset, and words tumbled out without much direction. "And all I could think of to do was get you guys out to help me because I couldn't even move my molecular construction. I tried so hard, but I only got my hair to grow longer …"

Cyborg turned to face the sunset, mind numb and reeling. Inside the brilliant orange glow was the black silhouette of his leader, head in hands and fingers knotted tightly in unruly hair.

"I tried," Beast Boy whimpered, finally overwhelmed with his story.

"Well you must not have tried hard enough!" Both Cyborg and Beast Boy jumped as Starfire thundered at him, bringing her face close to his and letting her eyes glow green.

Beast Boys eyes filled with tears now. Before he could respond, Starfire backed away, looking horrified.

"I am sorry, Beast Boy, I did not mean to blame you." She slumped onto the grass. The three watched Robin as he sat in front of the sinking sun.

His breathing was labored and a long, purple bruise was spreading along his jaw. But the Boy Wonder was suffering a much greater pain in his own head.

He longed for the numbness he had felt climbing out of Gotham River with gashes in his hands. Anything would be better than the guilt raking the inside of his throat. Slowly the guilt coiled inside of him, condensing into the all to familiar anger.

But it could not serve as a vent this time. His anger had nowhere to go but right back to the source.

He hated himself for his failure. Robin had let his guard down for a fraction of a second. It had been enough for him to lose everything.

All the fury boiled inside him. He was going blind, seeing nothing, feeling only the faint memory of her hand being torn from his own. He had simply let her go. It was then that he realized his hate for himself had reached the previously unprecedented levels he had for Batman.

_What you're feeling is guilt, Robin. Not hate. Batman is just a convenient target._

This wasn't the same.

_You have _got_ to understand that not everything is your fault._

Was Robin just another convenient target?

_Am I right?_  
>Raven was always right.<p>

* * *

><p>Robin stood, overwhelmed by the epiphany. Someone was at fault. It was not him.<p>

The Joker would pay.

He was reeling from his discovery. Set free. There was one person responsible, the true reason for his suffering. Then and now, it had always been that made up face, that foolish grin. That mind for games.

His anger was at last properly orientated in the right direction. No. More. Guilt.

It was a fuel.

* * *

><p>"We'll find her if we find the Joker."<p>

There was something different about Robin, but none of his team could quite put their finger on it. His voice was stronger, his posture like that of an Atlas who suddenly didn't have to hold up the world anymore.

"We'll find the Joker if we find Hands."

"Robin, they could be anywhere." Starfire rubbed a hand over her forehead.

"He'll lead us to him."

"That doesn't make any sense," Beast Boy piped up, puzzled. "Why would he attack us, take Raven, and then help us find him?"

"Because," Cyborg had made the connection from the little he knew of the Joker. "He wants to play some kind of game. Right?"

Robin nodded grimly. "But we're not going to play it his way. The Joker has a lot to answer for, and we're going to deliver him his own personal Hell." As he spoke, his communicator buzzed from his belt.

"What is it?"

"Where are you kids?" The mayor appeared on the screen, frazzled and distraught. "There's a monster down here making a hurricane with chunks of my office building!"

"What kind of monster?"

"I don't _know_, do I look like I majored in teratology? All I know is that it has way to many hands to count and they're all trying to kill me! Robin?"

Robin closed his communicator, determination set in every feature. No fear, no guilt, no anger.

"Let's go play."

* * *

><p>A reporter stood at a safe distance, speaking to her camera as it panned to show the destruction caused by Hands. "The rubble is piling up in the streets, and there is only one question on everyone's mind: <em>where<em> are the Ti-"

"Come on," Cyborg said as he passed her. "That can't be the _only_ question on peoples minds."

"Yeah, how about 'Why does that thing have so many hands?'" Beast Boy quipped.

"Or 'Where will we eat pizza if he destroys The Hut?'"

There was a massive blockage in the street, objects thrown by Hands no doubt. The dumpster lying across the sidewalk was blasted away by sonic waves; Cyborg stepped out from the dust. Starfire rose into the air, eyes glowing, waiting for her cue. Beast Boy bounded over, a whirl of fangs and green and black stripes. Finally Robin stood on an upended taxicab, surveying the chaos below him.

Hands was doing what he did best. Cars were smoking, tossed like stones into the windows of adjacent buildings.

"What's the plan, Rob?" Cyborg watched Hands inject a long arm into the hole he'd created in the mayors building.

"You're not going to like it."

"Try me, man, we're loosing time here."

"We have to go back. Follow the path, see where he came from."

"That's where we will find Raven," Starfire nodded, and started to head back over the blockage.

"But we can't just leave this." Robin clenched his jaw. Hands was rooting around inside the building, groping for something.

"Robin!" Beast Boy itched. Hands dragged a screaming woman from the building, waving her in the air. They had to do something; people were in danger.

"Do what you must do, Robin." It was Starfire who spoke. "We can handle this, and I believe you can handle the Joker. We will come assist you when we have neutralized Hands."

He looked up at her gratefully- there was a simple wisdom in the pretty alien when it came to tense situations.

"I'll get her back," He promised. "Titans, GO!"

* * *

><p>Unlike Cyborg, Raven's body was entirely flesh, and it all of it was extremely sore.<p>

When she had first opened her eyes, she had had to close them right away. The scene- dark, drippy, and grey- had been the opposite of the cheery white of the Titans hospital wing.

She chose instead the sanctuary of the inside of her eyelids. She stared at the soft blackness, thinking. She did not wake up where she had expected to. As far as she could hear, Raven was in a large, wet room. Water was running all around her.

This all meant that something had gone very wrong.

_Time to be a big girl. _She forced her eyes open.

"Why didn't you tie me up?" She asked of the vibrant man sitting in the center of the great room. He was peeling an apple with a pocketknife. Behind him was a toolbox of sorts, lying open and displaying a row of dark purple crystals. She sat up, stretching her limbs. They ached, but were intact. And unrestrained.

"I'm not into into _those_ kinds of games," The Joker responded with a false, embarrassed giggle. Raven was irked at his smart answer, until she realized that she wouldn't put it past him. She shivered.

"Now that it's just the two of us," The Joker fixed her with bottle green eyes. Raven continued to tremble; she could feel the emotions peeling from his filthy coat and wafting around her. There were only two; giddy excitement and calculated malice.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a question about our friend Robin. Do you think the Batman fired him? Or did he run away from the nest?"

"You're an idiot." Raven snapped. "You don't know anything about him."

"Oh I do," The Joker stood, crunching on the apple. "I know he is an angry young man. I know he lost one of my games and didn't take it well. I wonder how this one will go over?"

Raven could feel Robin's anger building inside her again- or was it her own? She didn't care. It no longer mattered- they were one in the same.

"You really are an idiot." Orbs of black matter floated at her fingertips. The Joker regarded her, and she felt no fear emanating from him. Just glee.

She would fix that.


End file.
